1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optoelectronic systems and devices. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to modifying operating characteristics of transceivers and transponders.
2. The Related Technology
The proliferation and significance of networking technology is well known. Optical transponders and transceivers are used for receiving and transmitting data between electronic hosts such as computers using an optical network. Generally, optical transceivers/transponders are located at the interface of an optical network and an electronic host. Transceivers and transponders receive optical data signals from the network, convert the optical data signal to an electrical data signal, and pass the electric data signal to the host.
Likewise, optical transceivers and transponders receive data, in the form of an electrical signal, from the host. The transceiver or transponder converts the electrical signal to an optical data signal, and transmits the optical data signal across an optical network to another host. Optical transceivers and transponders are commonly implemented in the form of a combination transceiver/transponder module that can be mounted on a motherboard of a host via an interconnect.
The ever-increasing demand for network bandwidth has resulted in the development of technology that increases the amount of data traveling across a network. Advancements in modulation techniques, coding algorithms and error correction have drastically increased rates of this data type. For example, it was the case at one time that the highest rate that data could travel across a network was at approximately one Gigabit per second (“GB/s”). Subsequently however, data rates of 10 GB/s have been achieved in connection with Ethernet and Synchronous Optical Network (“SONET”) networks. For instance, the XFP (10 GB/s serial electrical interface) Pluggable Module Multi-Source Agreement (“MSA”) is directed to transceivers operating at approximately 10 Gb/s. Further, data rates of 4 Gb/s have been attained in Fibre Channel (“FC”) networks.
As data rates have increased, transceivers and transponders have been designed to be compatible with networks that run at different data rates. For instance, in a Fibre Channel network, it may be desirable to operate at a data rate of about 4, 2, or 1 Gb/s or lower. In a Ethernet or SONET system, the transceiver or transponder may operate at a data rate of about 10, 5, or 1 Gb/s or lower. In yet other systems, it may be desirable to select a single operational data rate, or a range of data rates over which the system will operate. As an example of the latter case, it may be necessary to set a transceiver or transponder to operate at one of several data rates close to 10 Gb/s.
Many existing transceivers and transponders have selectable data rates. Conventionally, a transceiver/transponder module with a selectable data rate will include a data rate select pin that allows the transceiver/transponder module to be configured or set to operate at one of several rates. Thus, transceivers and transponders with selectable data rates allow the transceiver or transponder to be configured for use in various types of networks and network configurations.
However, existing transceivers and transponders are problematic in that they typically require a user to manually select the data rate. The requirement for manual selection of the data rate for the transceiver or transponder limits the ability of the transceiver/transponder to respond to system changes. This limitation can cause problems in some situations, such as by preventing certain networks from working together.
A related problem concerns the fact that an I/O connector, such as a pin on the interconnect between the transceiver/transponder and the host board, is required in some instances to facilitate implementation of the data rate selection or change. Oftentimes, the pin arrangement for a transceiver/transponder module is defined by industry standard, so that a desired new feature or component cannot be added to the transceiver/transponder module if adding that feature would require some type of I/O to control the data rate of operation and/or if no I/O connection is available for the transceiver/transponder module under the existing industry standard.
Therefore, what is needed are optoelectronic components, such as transceivers, transponders, and transceiver/transponder modules for example, whose operational data rate can be automatically selected. Moreover, at least some implementations of such optoelectronic components should be self-contained such that automatic data rate selection can be implemented by the optoelectronic component without regard to the configuration of the associated host board. Alternatively, it would be desirable to provide the ability to modify the operational data rate of a optoelectronic device so as to effect other effect behaviors of the device. For example, manipulation of the data rate of a transmitted signal so that the signal is optimized for a given environment would be desirable.